Objective To analyze the social frailty of inpatients aged 60 years or over with a cross-sectional study, and to explore its relationship with physical function. Methods A total of 258 inpatients aged ≥60 years admitted in our hospital from January to December 2019 were enrolled in this study. Their social frailty was evaluated by Help, Participation, Loneliness, Financial and Talk (HALFT) scale, and those who scored ≥3 were included in the social frailty group, scored 1-2 in the pre-social frailty group, and scored 0 in the non-social frailty group. The prevalence and influencing factors of social frailty were analyzed. SPSS statistics 22.0 was used to perform the statistical analysis. Student′s t test, one-way analysis of variance, Chi-square test, or Fisher exact test was employed in intergroup comparison for different data types. Results There were 31 patients being assigned into the social frailty group, 157 into the pre-social frailty group, and 70 into the non-social frailty group. Compared with the non-social frailty group, the social frailty group were older (P=0.002), more prone to cerebrovascular disease (P=0.016), and had a higher ratio of multiple medications (P=0.029) and a higher incidence of physical frailty (P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that physical frailty was an independent risk factor for social frailty (OR=0.191,95% CI 0.078-0.468, P<0.001). Correlation analysis results indicated that after adjustment for gender and age, the higher HALFT scale score was, the slower walking speed (r=-0.325, P<0.001), the worse handgrip strength (r=-0.151, P=0.018), the lower score of Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging Physical Activity Questionnaire (BLSA-PAQ, r=-0.322, P=0.001), and the higher score of Fried phenotype frailty scale (r=0.329, P<0.001). Conclusion The prevalence of social frailty is relatively high for the elderly hospitalized patients. Physical frailty is an independent risk factor for social frailty in them, and physical function is associated with social frailty.